Fingernail polish is typically packaged in small bottles, each including a cap having an applicator brush extending therefrom. The caps typically screw onto the bottles, with the brush extending into the polish. In use, the cap is first unscrewed from the bottle and retracted therefrom to expose the polish-laden brush. Excess polish is then removed from the brush (usually by stroking the brush against the rim of the bottle) and polish is then applied to a fingernail by stroking the brush thereacross. During the application process, the bottle is customarily placed on a flat, stable surface, since it is difficult to hold the bottle in either hand while applying fingernail polish. After all of the desired fingernails have been polished, the bottle is recapped and stored until the next use.
The conventional bottle and brush fingernail polish storage and application system has several disadvantages. One such disadvantage is that typical fingernail polish bottles are not well suited for portability in pockets or purses. The bottles are irregularly shaped and have caps that typically protrude from the main bottle body. Such protruding caps are easily entangled with other items stored in a purse. Such entanglement of the caps and bottles with the remaining contents of a purse is inconvenient at least and may lead to loosening or premature removal of the cap while the bottle is still in the purse. Such a mishap could easily result in the nail polish contents of the bottle spilling onto the remaining contents and interior of the purse, damaging and/or ruining them.
Another disadvantage of the traditional nail polish bottle is the requirement that the bottle rest on a flat surface while a user applies the polish. This requirement arises as a user must hold the brush in one hand while applying polish to the other hand. Thus, the traditional design necessitates a flat and relatively stable surface to be present for the bottle in order for nail polish to be applied.
Still another disadvantage with the traditional nail polish bottle is solvent loss occurring at the bottle cap seal. Over time, the solvent that keeps the polish flowable is lost through the cap seal (this occurs faster once the bottle has been opened for the first time, but will occur nonetheless with unopened bottles), resulting in contents that are increasingly viscous and sticky. This is undesirable both because thickened nail polish provides a less even and attractive nail coat, and because thickened nail polish acts to glue the bottle cap to the bottle. Eventually, the polish becomes so thick from solvent loss that the polish is useless, even if the bottle can still be opened.
There is therefore a need for a nail polish container/applicator that may be easily carried about with minimized risk of solvent loss and that may be utilized without the need for a convenient and stable flat surface. The present invention is directed toward meeting this need.